Of Cars and Roses
by May Yuki
Summary: Cyborg goes to a trusted mechanic when he needs to repair his car and meets the girlfriend.


**I know nothing about cars so bear with me on this one x'D**

* * *

Cyborg prides himself in his mechanical skills, whether it be for his car, the T-ship, or even the microwave! So of course, having to drive his car to an auto shop has dealt a pretty hefty blow to said pride.

But he had run out of supplies and he trusted this auto shop the most. In their last fight with Cinderblock, his car had been the main victim as he and Beast Boy were just having a simple drive through Jump City to buy the latest video game.

He pulls into the auto shop, the building predominantly rose-colored and for a good reason too as the name of the shop is _Rose's Repairs_. Luckily for him, there are no other clients' cars but the owner doesn't even react to his robotic features which is another reason why he comes here. All the other mechanics ogle openly, but this owner…She stopped herself and only started asking questions when Cyborg told her he didn't mind. The only other vehicles in the room are a fire-truck red motor scooter and a pure white motorcycle situated next to one another in the corner of the shop.

He steps out of his car, trying his best to not look at the damage. He quietly apologizes to his precious baby as he scans the room. "Hello?"

Footsteps can be heard to his left, where the office is. A young woman wearing a denim jacket over a plain white t-shirt and thigh-length skirt enters the room, taking off her sunglasses. Cyborg involuntarily squints, noticing a scar running down the left side of her face. "Hello," she tilts her head down as she slightly curtsies. "Would you like to come in here for now? She's out picking up some more equipment right now," the girl explains, pushing her side-ponytail aside. Cyborg wonders if the stark whiteness of her hair is natural as he registers what she had said.

He gives the room another once-over and realizes that the pick-up truck is gone. "Uh…sure."

"Please." She steps to the side and motions for Cyborg to enter. This is his first time being here alone with her. She normally arrives later in the day, usually just as Cyborg leaves after the repairs are done. Although, he could have sworn he saw her recently on the news. He enters the small room and sits down on the chair, looking around at the new location. There isn't much décor in the room, the only one being a plant in the corner of the room. A wooden desk is in front of him and three chairs altogether in the room, placed around the table. The computer on the desk has its monitor turned off and Cyborg wonders why the owner has yet to upgrade her machine.

"At least the damage wasn't too terrible," the girl comments, getting a small cup of water for Cyborg. She had procured a cup of coffee from somewhere for herself and is now taking small sips of it as she looks through the glass at the car.

Cyborg glances behind him at his baby, trying not to groan in pain at the damage. The front of the car is completely totaled.

"Was it because of the fight the other day?" she asks, referencing their battle with Cinderblock.

"Yeah, I was just goin' out to get a game with Beast Boy when the stupid blockhead threw a huge boulder at us," he begins recounting the fight.

"Oh yes, I was visiting the bookstore when I heard the noise. Was there a reason why he attacked you?" she asks.

Cyborg shrugs, "He was honestly probably just trying to pick a fight. Some of them do that just for the hell of it. No real reason to be honest."

"Such ridiculousness," she comments, taking another sip. "But I'm grateful that the Titans are here to keep us safe. She probably would have tried to take on Cinderblock and any other villains if your team didn't set up here."

Cyborg chuckles, imagining a young woman standing at Beast Boy's height trying to take on Cinderblock with nothing but her wrench. "It's a good thing there wasn't much happening while we were gone for those couple of months."

"That's what you think," she quickly retorts. "But luckily, that reserve team your leader sent here kept everything under control. I think she developed a small crush on the archer." Cyborg doesn't fail to notice the hint of jealousy from the young woman.

"I could always set her up with Speedy," he teases. She scowls in response.

"I'm sure that he isn't as charming as he appears to be!" The garage of the shop opens at that moment, diverting their attention as a worn-down pick-up truck rolls in. Like the computer, the truck is clearly running on its last legs. Cyborg wonders if there's any way for him to convince the owner to upgrade her shop. Maybe he can spend a day here to do so, as thanks for her repairs.

Parking next to the two scooters, the driver hops out the moment the engine turns off. Standing at the same height as Beast Boy, the young woman only reaches up to Cyborg's stomach. She is wearing a short-sleeved red hoodie and short jeans, her feet bouncing almost as if her red converse shoes have a hidden spring in them.

"Cybor-! I mean, Stone! I mean…uh hi!" she excitedly greets him. Cyborg can't help but chuckle over her stumbling words. She could never decide what to call him, even though he had explicitly told her he could call her anything.

"C'mon, I told you that you could just call me Vic!"

"I know, but it feels weird! And Stone is that fake name you used when you infiltrated that evil group! And Cyborg is like your superhero name and you're not technically on the job right now and-"

"Ruby," a stern voice begins from behind Cyborg. "He is here on business," she reminds the auto-shop owner.

"Aw, Weiss! You're here!" She pauses, realizing something. "Wait, you're here earlier than usual!"

"The meeting ended around lunchtime so I came over. There wasn't much else to do at the company," Weiss shrugs.

"Guess they finally let you have your say around the company!"

Weiss scoffs, "Please, it took everything to just make sure they all showed up. I'm personally surprised we got everything done." She gestures towards Cyborg. "Enough about the Schnee Company woes, it's time you help him with his car," she reminds Ruby.

"Ok! And then we can go out for dinner after! My treat!" She bounces off towards the car before Weiss can respond.

Weiss sighs. "Honestly, she can barely afford to keep this shop afloat. How is she going to treat me to an expensive dinner?"

"I take it she's not taking your money either?" Cyborg observes. Weiss shakes her head, her eyes following the shorter, energetic woman as she looks over the damages.

"She believes in doing everything herself and she doesn't want my help…especially mine," Weiss bitterly explains. "Honestly, she's more like Blake than her sister."

"Blake?"

Weiss glances over to Cyborg. "You know, the bookstore owner?" When Cyborg still looks clueless, Weiss's eyes widen. "I see, Raven never told you that she met Blake."

"Who's Blake?" Cyborg asks, his brotherly instincts slightly showing as he begins a search on citizens named Blake in Jump City. No one is going to hurt his sis-

"She's Yang's girlfriend, and Yang is Ruby's older sister," Weiss explains the connections. Cyborg cancels the search. "Blake owns a bookstore, Pages, a couple streets away and I've been told Raven frequents there. Or at least, used to, before your team left for nearly a year. She recently visited though, according to Yang."

Cyborg recalls seeing Raven returning a couple weeks ago in civilian clothes – a rare moment as Titans normally go about Jump City in their normal costumes. She had immediately retreated into her room – which would have been a normal action had it not been for the fact that Robin had called them all to the main room for a reason.

His musings are interrupted when he hears a clatter behind him. It had taken him some time before he would trust anyone outside of the Titans to work on his baby, but he immediately knew he could trust Ruby the first time he met her. So the sound he had heard was … concerning.

"Ruby!" Weiss flashes a face of concern, something Cyborg had never seen her do as she normally has a scowl on her face. Ruby is somehow several feet away from the vehicle, rubbing the back of her head in confusion.

…Did he turn it off? While Weiss checks over Ruby, Cyborg examines the driver's door and he stiffens.

He forgot to disable the defense system.

Luckily, his car had only deemed Ruby an extremely low-level threat so it had just shoved her away from his car. If she had been anything higher… Cyborg quickly inputs the commands on his arm to disable it.

He had set this up after his car was stolen way back when he first built it. He and Raven spent the entire day trying to install it and successfully tested it on a certain green teammate.

"Really, Weiss! I'm fine! The door just opened and pushed me away!"

"How could the door _possibly_ do that?" Weiss asks, doubtful at her story.

"Well…" Cyborg begins, freezing under the sharp gaze from the woman dressed in white. The words "Ice Queen" comes to mind as he struggles to find the right words. "I set up a security system and I forgot to disable it earlier," he decides to tell the truth.

The room temperature seemingly plummets as Weiss's glare intensifies. Before she can do anything, Ruby places a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, Weiss. He had every right to set up that system," Ruby defends him. "It's turned off now though, right?" Cyborg slowly nods, careful to not make sudden movements. "Great! Come on, Weiss, help me with this!" she pulls Weiss away from Cyborg, leaving him alone to catch his breath. He seriously felt like she was going to freeze him to death with the way she had glared at him. Her piercing gaze seems oddly familiar, but he can't quite recall from where or what.

"Hmmm, everything under the hood seems to be okay," Ruby observes, scanning. Weiss is standing beside her, ready to help her if needed. "Is it just the side of the car that needs fixing?"

"Yeah, I ran out of resources back at the tower and I know you have the same materials I use for the doors."

"Gotcha!" Ruby darts off to a corner of the shop, digging through a pile before bouncing back. "Let's get to it!"

* * *

Ruby lifts the welding mask up, stepping back and admiring the work done. She, Cyborg, and Weiss had spent several hours replacing the doors. They were about to wrap up when Weiss noticed that the trunk was also slightly damaged so they spent another hour on the car before finally finishing.

"Phew! Thanks for letting me work on your car, Cyborg!" Ruby grins happily. "It's my favorite!"

Cyborg, as the first time and every subsequent times after, is impressed at the work the young woman had done for his car. Her skill, dare he admit it, is as good as his! Weiss struggled, but he's grateful that she had noticed the damage on his car. He's always willing to pay more if it means fixing his car back to its near perfect state.

"Thanks for working on it," he tells Ruby, the young girl beaming.

A phone rings, ruining their feel-good moment. Weiss huffs angrily, striding back into the office and picking up the annoying cell phone. Ruby sighs with a smile. "Guess something went wrong at the office," she wonders.

"So what does she work as?" Cyborg asks, curious.

"You know the Schnee Development Company?"

"Yeah, one of the largest developers in the city."

"She recently became the CEO," Ruby explains nonchalantly, as if she's talking about the weather.

Cyborg jolts, now remembering the name Ruby had said earlier. Weiss. Weiss _Schnee_ , originally _just_ the _heiress_ of the Schnee Company. But now she's the _CEO_ of the Schnee Development Company. Her sister had dismissed the role around the time the Titans had established themselves, choosing instead to participate in the government, citing interest in the Special Divisions that would research and set laws surrounding metahumans.

Now that Cyborg has had time to think upon this news, it explains why Weiss seemed distant to him. It wasn't that she didn't like him – although, she probably doesn't after what almost happened to Ruby – it's probably just a barrier that she has put up to deal with the people at the company.

"But don't let that title scare you too much," Ruby grins. "Deep down, she's really sweet!"

Cyborg returns her grin. He may not know Weiss as well as Ruby, but he's glad that she has someone that's there to support her. "How'd you two meet?"

"It's a little embarrassing," she chuckles.

"She ran right into me at the park," Weiss explains, reentering the room. "Literally into me," she continues when she notices the question about to leave Cyborg's lips.

"In my defense! You weren't paying attention where you were going _and_ you crossed into my path!"

"I was deep in thought, you dolt!"

"And that's _exactly_ why we ran into each other." Weiss huffs, nearly stomping towards Ruby. Ruby easily dodges the attempted flick on her forehead, running behind Cyborg. "Gotta get through him now!" A ring interrupts them again as Weiss growls, glancing back at the phone in the office.

"Look, I have to head back to the office. Whitley is making a mess in the office right now." Ruby frowns for the first time in front of Cyborg since they had met. The frown seems so odd on the young woman, who's always smiling when he comes to visit.

"Do you need me there?"

"No, he's being the same old Whitley," Weiss declines the offer, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Honestly, even with all of these shenanigans, they _still_ think he's a better option than me."

"They'll always think that, Weiss. But we believe in you! I know you're gonna do great!" Ruby grants her a big smile, hugging her.

Weiss's rough scowl eventually softens. "You're right." She gives Ruby a soft peck on the cheek before turning back to Cyborg. "Unfortunately, I can't stay longer." Weiss half-curtsies. "Thank you for supporting Ruby."

Cyborg, unused to formalities, sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Uh, no problem. And good luck with the company stuff."

"Thank you." Weiss sends a quick message on her phone to someone – probably whoever reported the situation to Weiss, Cyborg assumes – before walking over to her snow white motorcycle. It's strange to see _the_ CEO of the Schnee Development Company driving a motorcycle rather than be driven around by a chauffeur. He hears giggling beside him.

"She's normally driven around in a limo but when she wants to visit me, she goes in her motorcycle." Seeing Cyborg's confusion, she continues, "Most people look confused when they see Weiss with the motorcycle. I built that by the way. Took me a while, but it barely makes any sound so the other people in the company can't complain."

The motorcycle's engine barely comes to a roar as Weiss slides her helmet over her head. With a glance back towards Ruby, Weiss drives out of the auto-shop.

Cyborg turns back to Ruby, impressed by the young woman's mechanical skills. "Where'd you find all the materials?"

Ruby answers, "Weiss insisted on giving me supplies to upgrade either my truck or scooter…BUT I built her the motorcycle instead!" She plays with the hoodie strings, looking down. "She yelled at me for a while but then I told her that we could ride side by side now! Plus, it's a lot more free compared to sitting in a stuffy limo all day! I should know, Yang takes me on joyrides sometimes."

"Oh yeah, she mentioned Yang earlier."

"Yep! Yang's my older sister! She's dating Blake, the owner of Pages, who's apparently a really good friend of your teammate!"

"Yeah, Rae doesn't tell us much about when she goes out. But sometimes she'd come back with a new book in hand."

"Mhm!" Ruby nods excitedly. If Cyborg didn't know better, he would have assumed Ruby was still a teenager. "I remember visiting Blake one time and she looked so down because you guys haven't been in the city for a while at the time."

"Well, yeah, we were facing against an enemy org basically," he explains. "But we took care of 'em."

"And I'm glad you did! Seriously, I wish I could help somehow." It honestly feels so strange. Cyborg feels like he could be the older brother of this young woman but Ruby is clearly an adult, even if she doesn't act like one when she's around him.

Despite his thoughts, he still comforts her, "You are helping me, Ruby. I wouldn't be here asking for repairs if I didn't think it was worth it. Speaking of which, how much is it gonna be today?"

"Oh! Uh, it's on me today!"

"What?"

"Yeah, it's been a while since you came to visit so consider this a…disco-?"

"No." Ruby stops herself, confused. "C'mon, Ruby. You need the money." Ruby tries to protest, but Cyborg is already shaking his head. "You're always upgrading and helping others but you don't let yourself have the same luxury. Weiss and I wanna help you." Ruby still seems unsure about accepting the money. "Besides, I doubt Weiss'll let me leave without paying you at least some money."

Ruby finally relents, "You're right. But only this time! Next time, it's on me!" Cyborg chuckles as he follows her into the office again. "Wait here! I'll go run a checklist to see what we worked on!"

Once Ruby leaves the room, Cyborg quickly places his hand on the computer and hacks into it. Finding Ruby's bank information is, sadly, rather easy and he quietly donates money with a message attached. Finished, he moves back into his seat just as Ruby comes back.

She gives him the price and Cyborg hands the money, insisting that the extra $10 is a tip. She frowns, clearly not wanting to charge a friend for that much.

The pair walks back out of the room once Ruby puts away the money. As Cyborg opens the driver's door to his car, he hears the T-Comm go off. He sighs, "At least we finished it just in time."

"Yeah! I'm glad we did!" Ruby replies with a big grin. Cyborg slides into the car as Ruby gives him a thumbs up. "Kick their asses!"

Cyborg chuckles, starting the engine. It revs as if brand new and he is once again thankful for her help. With a nod, he backs out of the garage and heads back to the tower.

As he drives down the road, he makes a mental note to visit Ruby more often. And who knows, he might even have a surprise for her next time.

* * *

Ruby sighs once she sees the changes in her bank account, knowing full well where it had come from. Despite what Cyborg thinks, she's not that naïve to believe that he wouldn't try to help her. After all, Weiss had done the same thing just a couple weeks ago.

Shaking her head with a smile, Ruby turns off the monitor and stands up from the table. She heads over to her truck, looking at it more carefully now.

The tires are worn down but haven't caused her major issues. At most, it's just a bumpy ride in certain areas of the city but it's not a huge issue. She's gotten used to it by now. The hood is dented and it takes a little effort to open the driver's door now. The windows, no matter how much she tries to wash it, remains dirty and that is the deciding factor.

Weiss would be torn if she got into an accident because she couldn't see out of her windows. With her mind made up, Ruby forces the driver's door open and hops into the seat. She ignores the tearing leather digging into her skin, readjusting her seat.

She successfully turns the ignition on after several tries, the truck rumbling dangerously. Ruby chuckles nervously before pulling out of the garage.

Maybe next time when Cyborg visits, he'll get to see where the money went to.

* * *

 **I intend to continue more of these one-shots and maybe even a multi-chapter fic if there's enough demand for it. I'm not sure if I'm ready to commit to a long fic unless I know there are people that want to see it.**


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